Crown Solicitor of South Australia


The Crown Solicitor of South Australia provides legal services to South Australian government Ministers, agencies and departments.
In the early days of the colony the titles of Advocate-General, Crown Solicitor and Public Prosecutor were bestowed together. That changed in 1850 due to the ill-health of then Advocate-General, William Smillie. As a consequence of Smillie's ill-health, the position of Crown Solicitor was given to Charles Mann. Mann briefly held the title of Acting Advocate-General before resigning that position in favour of Richard Hanson. Hanson became South Australia's last Advocate-General and the provinces first Attorney-General in the inaugural Parliament in 1857.
Since 1850, the position of Crown Solicitor has been a public sector employee. The current Crown Solicitor of South Australia, as of January 2025, is Lucinda Byers.
WWW agd.sa.gov.au

List of Crown Solicitors of South Australia (1851 to 2025)

Crown SolicitorTime in office
Charles Mann1837-38
George Milner Stephen1838
Robert Bernard1838-40
William Smillie1840-52
William Bartley 1849-50
Charles Mann1850-56
William Alfred Wearing QC1856-67
William Bakewell1867-70
Richard Bullock Andrews QC1870-81
Charles Mann QC1881-89
James Martin Stuart1889-1905
Charles James Dashwood KC1905-16
Frederick William Richards KC1916-27
Albert James Hannan1927-52
Reginald Roderick St Clair Chamberlain KC1952-59
Joseph Reginald Kearnan QC1959-68
William Andrew Noye Wells QC1968-69
Ralph Meyrick Hague1969-70
Leslie Kenneth Gordon1970-76
Graham Clifton Prior QC1976-84
Catherine Margaret Branson QC1984-89
Bradley Maxwell Selway QC1989-96
Michael Walter QC1996-2004
Simon Stretton SC2004-10
Gregory Parker2010-13
Michael Evans QC2015-16
Judith Hughes2016-17
Michael Wait SC2018-20
Laura Stein2020-21
Ingrid Norman2021-2024
Lucinda Byers2025-